OSP seeks poachers who killed two bucks

Police are hunting for suspected deer poachers after two bucks were shot near Lost Creek Lake Saturday morning.

Police are hunting for suspected deer poachers after two bucks were shot near Lost Creek Lake Saturday morning.

The Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division reported Monday that a four-point buck was found dead in a resident's yard near milepost 1 of Crowfoot Road at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

OSP Sgt. Kirk Meyer said the buck had a single gunshot wound in its side. An investigation found several witnesses had heard gunshots at 3 a.m. that day. A two-point buck was found injured in a nearby pasture.

"(Investigators) were still looking into the first one when the neighbor alerted them to the second one," Meyer said.

Police had to kill the second deer because of the extent of its injuries. Its meat was salvaged and will be donated to area food banks once it is butchered.

A $3,000 reward is being offered by the Oregon Hunters Association Turn-In-Poachers program, Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.